


Metaphysical

by GrandAdmiralJek



Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood and Gore, Horror, Psychological Horror, Psychological Torture, Stand Alone, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 06:15:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18088982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrandAdmiralJek/pseuds/GrandAdmiralJek
Summary: Jacob wakes up alone in a room he doesn't recognize. His host makes himself known, and poses a question, with lethal consequences.





	Metaphysical

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was darkness. 

Jacob blinked slowly, groaning as his eyes searched for light. He tried to sit up, but his head swooned, and he quickly lowered himself back to his lying position. Somewhere behind his right eye, a molten nail was slowly being driven through his skull at a constant, steady beat, and Jacob moaned again as he tried to knead away the pain in his temple.

He must have been absolutely plastered last night if he had a hangover like this. That wasn’t like him. Sure, he could appreciate a good drink, especially to celebrate his promotion yesterday, but Jacob couldn’t remember a time since college when the morning after had been this rough.

Slowly, Jacob adjusted his head to try and get more comfortable on his pillow. However, the pillow was rough and seemed hard on the back of his head.  _ I must have moved against the wood in my sleep.  _ He rolled slowly to his side to try and get away from the headboard. However, when his cheek suddenly met cold, hard cement, Jacob’s eyes snapped back open with the realization that something wasn’t right.

Brain still thudding with pain every second, Jacob once again sat up, more slowly this time to keep his head from pounding further. There was still darkness, but now, Jacob looked around for any indicator of where he was. It was no use. The entire room was pitch black; he couldn’t determine what was in it or how big it was if he’d been in it a thousand times.

Panic began to rise in Jacob’s throat as he pushed himself back against a wall. What in the world had happened last night? Jacob’s muddled mind moved slowly, trying to summon forth memories of the bar. The nail driving into his head didn’t make remembering any easier, but he concentrated past the pain and, slowly, the previous night’s events began to return.

Jacob remembered Elise’s elation when he had told her the news of the promotion, how he’d swept her into the air in the kitchen and told her he was going to celebrate with some friends. She’d kissed him on the lips and congratulated him again as he had walked out the door. He remembered Doug and Richie at the bar, who had raised their glasses to him in celebration of his accomplishment before downing a shot each. He had laughed at them, wanting to be able to drive himself home and content with his beer. Then, after another half hour, he had left the bar and walked out into the parking lot. He had told Elise he might be out late and that she shouldn’t wait up for him.

He had smiled as he imagined waking her up in the morning with a gentle kiss and a caress down the side of her face when something hard hit him from behind. Weakly, he had tried to rise, but a second blow had sent him into darkness.

Jacob staggered to his feet, fear beginning to mix with anger as he stared around the room. Staring around wildly, he swore as he shouted out in confusion, trying to mask his terror with anger, “Hey! Hey, what is this? What’s going on here?”

He jerked as, suddenly, a light snapped on overhead, flooding the room with a fluorescent glow that energized his headache and contracted his pupils as he rubbed his eyes in agony at the sudden light. Slowly, his eyes adjusted, and Jacob squinted around the room. It was smaller than he had expected, with no distinguishing features. The floor was white tile, filthy as if it had never been scrubbed clean of grime. The wall to his right reflected the overhead light from a glass window that peered through into another room. In the corner, a metal door huddled into the wall, and otherwise, the room was completely empty. 

Jacob flinched away again as, in the upper corner of the room near his ear, feedback squeaked and a voice began to speak. His eyes flicked to the ceiling and picked out an intercom and a camera, blinking red as it watched him with a soulless, black eye.

The voice waited for the feedback to quiet, then began to speak. It was a man’s voice, deep and strong. “Hello, Jacob. I’m glad to see you awake. How is your head?” The voice paused, waiting for a response, but Jacob was too terrified to speak. The man on the intercom sighed. “You’re terrified. That is understandable, truly, it is, but you really don’t need to be. I don’t intend to hurt you. I just need you for a psychological experiment, and then I will let you go. However, in order for the experience to proceed normally, I have to ensure I haven’t injured you. Now, again, how is your head?” 

Hesitantly, Jacob stared into the eye of the camera, watching every move he made intently. Voice trembling, Jacob responded with as much stability as he could muster. “U-Umm… it hurts.”

“How so?”

“W-Well, I have a headache. My head i-is pounding.”

“But your mental state, how is that?” the voice asked.

“I… I-I don’t understand,” Jacob stuttered.

“It’s alright,” the man soothed with a chuckle, “it’s my fault for being unclear. Do you have clarity right now? Can you think clearly, or is your headache interfering with your mental processes?”

“No. I mean, I don’t think so,” Jacob said quickly, still warily eyeing the camera’s red light. He didn’t understand what this man truly wanted, but currently, it seemed best to make sure he remained appeased. Any…  _ experiment  _ worth kidnapping someone over would likely result in something very unpleasant for him.

“Alright, let me test some things very quickly. What is your full name?”

Jacob didn’t answer. Instead, his voice turned steely as he demanded coldly, “Where am I?”

“All in good time, my friend. Now, your name?”

“What do you want with me?”

The man on the intercom sighed. “Hostility is to be expected, and I admit that it is deserved, but for now, all you need to know is that you are, and will continue to be, perfectly safe here for as long as I need you to be, and then you will be released. Now,” the voice hardened this time, the inflection indicating that the man was through with platitudes. “Your name.  _ Please _ , sir.”

“Jacob Agustus Rogers, Jr.”

“And how old are you?”

“Twenty-nine.”

“What state are you in?”

“I’m…” Jacob trailed off, looking around uncertainly.

The voice laughed, the unsettling easygoing tone back. “I assure you, Mr. Rogers, you are in the same state you were in when I brought you in.”

“N-Nevada.”

“What is your wife’s name?”

Jacob bristled. “How would you know that?”

The man chuckled again. “Don’t worry, Jacob, I haven’t touched your wife, and I’m not going to. I merely found her in your contacts. I have your phone and your license with me here.”

“And where are you? If I am to do this… experiment you have for me, I’d prefer that we get to know one another.” Jacob paused, listening in the silence. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

The voice returned a moment later, the tone strangely reassuring given the current situation. “Don’t worry, Jacob. This isn’t the type of experiment that involves face-to-face interaction between the researcher and the subject.” The man’s tone dropped to a soft, empathetic timbre as he said, “I know you’re scared right now, and once again, I don’t blame you in the slightest, but let me reassure you. I only need you for the test. Afterwards, I will let you go, alive and untouched. Is that alright?”

“I don’t exactly appreciate being knocked out by a psychopath and kidnapped,” Jacob spat, glaring slightly at the lens.

The man chuckled again with a slight, condescending  _ tsk _ . “Please, Jacob, psychopath is such a derogatory term, and despite what you may think, I am not insane. You may not understand right now, and neither will society, but, sometimes, for the sake of research, sacrifices must be made that people may not understand.” A pause, and then, “But I’m getting ahead of myself. To get back on topic, you don’t seem to show any signs of a concussion.” There was muttering for a moment, and a soft scratching noise, as if whoever the observer was was scribbling down notes. 

All at once, there was the sound of shuffling papers as the man on the intercom let out a brisk sigh. “Alright, I’m satisfied that you are in a clear state of mind, so I believe that we can begin with the test.”

Jacob waited expectantly, listening as the voice cleared itself. He would have to keep his anger in check for now. The last thing he wanted to do was anger his host. “Now, Jacob, I’m going to read you a scenario, and I would like you to describe to me how you, in your current state of mind, would react to such a scenario. Your answer will be completely anonymous, and I will then record it with my other results and compare it after a small experiment. After the experiment has concluded, I will release you. Is that alright?”

Jacob stared at the intercom. What was this? Who was this man, who would kidnap him simply to ask him a question? After a long moment, Jacob slowly nodded to the camera.

“Excellent,” smiled the voice. A throat cleared again, and the man began to recite a passage. 

“Jacob, imagine that you’re in a large truck driving down a street. It’s been a long day, and you are feeling drowsy. All of a sudden, you jerk to full awareness and realize that there are people in the road. You slam on the breaks, but you won’t be able to stop in time to avoid an accident that will surely be fatal. You have moments to decide. On one side of the street, a group of five men are moving a car out of the road. On the other side of the street, a child runs out in front of your car to chase a ball. You can warn neither the men nor the child to get out of the way in time. Whichever side you choose, all individuals on that side will die. Which side would you choose, Jacob? I’ll give you a moment to think.”

Jacob stared at the camera for a moment. “But, that’s an impossible decision! You can’t possibly expect me to choose!”

“Oh, come now, Jacob, it’s merely a question! I’m not asking you to actually put yourself in the situation.”

“But… but I don’t know!” Jacob replied. 

“Think about it for a moment.”

Jacob quieted, deep in thought. The man wanted an answer, and the last thing Jacob wanted was to upset this person. The voice remained silent, waiting for an answer.

Finally, Jacob looked up and said, “I suppose I would run over the men.”

“Interesting,” replied the man. Scribbling sounds once again carried over the intercom. “And why would that be?”

“Well, I mean…” Jacob paused. “I don’t know, just, killing a child is a heinous act.”

“As is killing any human being.”

“It’s a catch-22, alright?” Jacob replied, a bit testily. “I did your experiment, now let me go.”

“Alright, alright, no need for hostility,” the voice replied, “and Jacob, we’ve not even started with the experiment. I was just taking your observation into account. Now, the real test begins.”

Something about the man’s gleeful tone made Jacob’s neck hair stand on end. “What do you mean?”

In response, a light suddenly flicked on in the next room, the room seen through the window that had previously been dark. “Why tell, when I can show?” the voice replied.

Jacob moved hesitantly towards the window, peering into the room past the gloom that had been there before. He gasped at what he saw. Through the window, the entire next room had become illuminated. The room was almost a mirror copy of his, with some notable differences. On one side of the room, five grown men were tied, standing up, to a pipe running along the ceiling by their hands. Each man was gagged, and they all stared at him wide-eyed in terror, squirming in their bonds and making muffled sounds from behind the cloth gags.

On the other side of the room, a small boy was bound similarly, his hands bound up to the ceiling. He was so short, he was standing atop a stool in order for his arms to reach the full distance. Like the men, his face was terrified, but he remained still, his eyes so large they stood out like white saucers as he looked into Jacob’s. He couldn’t be more than five.

Jacob swore at the sight. He turned to the intercom and camera. “Hey!” he shouted in rage. “What is this?”

Infuriatingly, the smile remained evident in the voice, as if nothing could bring this sick freak more pleasure than informing Jacob on exactly what this was. “This, Jacob, is the experiment.”

Jacob’s mouth fell open, before his lips twisted once again into a scowling grimace. Staring bullets into the camera, Jacob spat out, “You sick, son of a–”

Abruptly, the voice turned cold. “I’ll have none of that, Mr. Rogers. We are engaging in a professional conversation, and do not forget that, if you do not cooperate, I can do whatever I want to you… or to your wife.”

Furious, Jacob managed to hold his tongue at the mention of Elise and turned back to the window. Futilely, he bowed his head. “Just… tell me what you want. What is this?”

Apparently happy to be back on track, the man replied more cheerfully, “Like I said before, Jacob, I just want to experiment. Some of my methods may not be orthodox, but… morality is just the limit that boundaries us from the full potential of science. So much more could be learned if humanity was not so… squeamish.

“You have already answered how you would respond in a hypothetical situation. Now, I want to see what happens when faced with that situation. Do you stay with your original decision, or will spur of the moment thinking make you second guess yourself?

“Before you is the same choice I laid out before, merely in different circumstances. Five men on one side, one child on the other. You have no idea who these men are or what they’ve done in their lives, just that right now, like you, they are absolutely terrified.”

In the other room, a whirring noise suddenly sounded from before the window. Jacob looked down and gasped as he watched an industrial saw blade roll into view. The saw spun with power, jagged edges serrating the air as electricity flowed through it. The saw moved forward on a small cart, travelling along a series of tracks that Jacob hadn’t noticed before. The tracks split before the two groups, one path going under the feet of the men, the other running to the right towards the little boy. The saw whirred forwards a few feet, then stopped before the intersection, the cart stationary as the blade slowed to a stop.

The intercom crackled back to life. “Jacob, if you look beneath the window, you will see a lever. The lever is, at the moment, pointing straight up. Do you see the lever?”

Jacob looked down. A small, metal handle protruded from the wall, pointing towards his stomach. “Yes, I see it.”

“The lever can be moved one of two directions: right, or left,” the man continued with his instruction. “Once the lever is moved, it cannot be changed. The lever corresponds with the tracks you see before you. If the lever is pulled to the right, the tracks will switch that way, sending the saw towards the little boy. If pointed left, the opposite will happen. You will be given thirty seconds to decide on a course of action. If, at the end of the thirty seconds, you have not made a decision, the saw will move all the way around the tracks, killing everyone in the other room. 

“However, if you pull the lever, the party on the opposite side of the lever will be spared, and the saw will stop after it has killed all members of the opposite party. I will not be talking with you any more after this, Jacob, but do know that I will be watching with the utmost interest. I hope you’ll keep me on the edge of my seat, my boy. Best of luck to you. Your time starts… now.”

With a click, the intercom went silent, and an electronic clock behind the men and boy on the wall began ticking down from thirty.

“Wait! Wait a minute!” Jacob cried. “You can’t do this! They’re human beings!” Frantically, Jacob’s eyes darted between the boy and the men, watching as the men struggled against their bonds. The saw began to spin to life again, attaining deadly speed as seconds ticked by. The clock read twenty-five seconds.

In desperation, Jacob sprinted to the door of his room, slamming his shoulder against it. However, as he had expected the door was deadbolted from the outside, and all he accomplished in his banging was to bruise his shoulder. 

Wincing from the pain, Jacob raced back to the window. Fifteen red seconds remained on the clock, and the men’s clothes were soaked in horrified sweat, while the boy’s face had gone deathly white. 

Jacob let out a sob of anguish. He stared into the wide, pleading eyes of the child and the equally pathetic gaze of each man, lined up and suspended from the ceiling like freshly slaughtered cows. He couldn’t do this! But if he did nothing, it wouldn’t matter.

Five… four… three…

God forgive him. Jacob grasped the metal handle and threw the switch. In the room, the men suddenly became hysterical, twitching and throwing themselves left and right as the blade began moving forward again, turning left down their track like a horrible, metal whirlwind.

Jacob looked away when the muted shrieks first started, when blood and gore splattered on the walls, obscuring his view of the carnage through the glass. Instead, he held the gaze of the child, who in turn stared right at him even as he was spattered in red, his eyes remaining bright and terrified beneath the visceral meat that was flung on him. Eventually, the last muffled groans stopped and the whirring ceased, leaving only the faintest drip of liquid from within the other room.

Jacob let out full sobs now, tears rolling down his cheeks as he slid down the glass in weary disgust. He let the grief roll over him, wracking his body in convulsions as the sight of the first man contorting torturedly as the blade made contact branded itself in his memory.

Jacob was still sobbing when the hissing first started. He didn’t pick up on it at first, but gradually, crying grew harder and harder. Weakness overtook his limbs as his vision began to swim. Dully, he heard a faraway clank as the deadbolt was turned.

Jacob’s head lolled back, his eyes glazing, as the door was slowly pushed open and a shrouded figure entered the room pushing a squeaky-wheeled cart, an oxygen mask secured over his face.

“There,” the voice called from underwater, “you see, Jacob? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Jacob couldn’t respond, feeling movement under his arms as his limp body was lifted onto the cart. The last thing he was aware of before darkness claimed him and the nightmares began was the echo of the voice coming from the end of a tunnel that called, “Don’t worry, my boy. You and the child will be fine. I’ll take good care of you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a scene from the horror video game Until Dawn (you'll know the scene if you've played the game) and a philosophical question my high school English teacher posed to me my sophomore year. Not sure yet if I will continue the work or expand to other victims. May leave it up to you. Please comment and share!


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